Packaging system for fully baked, unfilled pastry shells

Claim 1

A packaging system for protecting the freshness and structural integrity of a plurality of fully-baked unfilled pastry shells during shipping and storage, the system comprising: at least one vertical stack of said fully-baked unfilled pastry shells, each individual shell being held in a conforming baking pan which is of frusto-conical construction having a supporting base member and an upper open surface, each individual shell and pan wrapped with a continuous, substantially moisture-impermeable high polymer film substantially conforming to the outer surface dimensions of said baking pan and stretched across the upper, open surface of the pastry shell so as to provide an enclosed air space substantially equal to the filling volume of the pastry shell; said stack being arranged such that the wrapped base member of individual baking pans in the stack rests entirely upon said high polymer film stretched across the upper open surface of a shell and pan therebelow; said high polymer film possessing sufficient strength and resiliency so as to resist breakage when the wrapped shells are stacked in said vertical stacked arrangement and such that the arrangement of wrapped shells in said vertical stack and conditions encountered in handling and shipping will not result in the portion of the film stretched across the upper open surface of any of the pastry shells being deformed or depressed to the point such that any of the individual shell and pan combinations in the vertical stack rest together in a manner whereby the wrapped base member of a baking pan actually rests against the inner surface of a film-wrapped pastry shell below it; a high polymer film bag surrounding the stack of pastry shells; and a corrugated shipping container enclosing the high polymer film and the stack of pastry shells.